Would Neymar ever consider the possibility of playing in Japan?

Footbal is getting very popular in Japan, especially among sports enthusiasts. In recent years, many bookmakers have entered the Japanese market, making it easier to bet on football and other sports.

 

International Bookmakers

International bookmakers have attracted a lot of attention recently. Online bookmakers overseas allows players based in Japan to easily bet on the outcome of sports from a computer or a mobile device.

 

Strictly speaking, betting in Japan is illegal. However, players can still bet with overseas/international bookmakers as their services are provided legally in other countries.

 

Most Popular Leagues in Japan

J League (J1, J2, J3), the Levain Cup, the Emperor’s Cup, the JFL, and the Nadeshiko League are all leagues that are very popular among Japanese players.

 

J1 League

When someone mentions football in Japan, J1 League is the first thought that comes to mind. J1 league is basically the equivalent for the English Premier League for the British gamblers. In addition to simple win/loss predictions, bookmakers offer more than 100 types of odds available for each game, including score predictions, point difference predictions, and results predictions for the first half and second half only and so on.

 

J1 leagues is also known as the Meiji Yasuda J1 League for its sponsorship reasons. There are quite some teams that compete in this professional league. These clubs are:

 

1. Avispa Fukuoka
2. Cerezo Osaka
3. FC Tokyo
4. Gamba Osaka
5. Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo
6. Kashima Antlers
7. Kashiwa Reysol
8. Kawasaki Frontale
9. Nagoya Grampus
10. Oita Trinita
11. Sagan Tosu
12. Sanfrecce Hiroshima
13. Shimizu S-Pulse
14. Shonan Bellmare
15. Tokushima Vortis
16. Urawa Red Diamonds
17. Vegalta Sendai
18. Vissel Kobe
19. Yokohama F. Marinos
20. Yokohama FC

 

You can read more about J1 league and its clubs here.

 

Besides J1 league, Japan also has J2 and J3 leagues which are the second and third division respectively. These leagues are also popular among locals.

 

Popular Footballers in Japanese Leagues

Japanese enthusiasts would like to see some European or famous players from other continents joining their football teams. This would add value and diversity to their clubs apart from the fact that it will help them increase their level of quality in international football. In this section we will mention (and dream) about some great players that would add value to Japanese Football if they had to join a Japanese club:

 

Neymar Jr.

Neymar, also known as Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, is a Brazilian-born professional footballer who plays forward for both the Brazil national team and Ligue 1 team Paris Saint-Germain. He is recognized as one of the top players in the world because he is a prolific goal scorer and well-known playmaker.

 

Leo Messi

Leo Messi, commonly known as Lionel Andrés Messi, is an Argentine professional football player who heads the Argentina national team in addition to playing forward for Ligue 1 Club Paris Saint-Germain.

 

Ronaldo

Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM plays forward for Premier League Club Manchester United and captains the Portugal team. Ronaldo is another great player that would add value to any club he joins now and, in the future, irrespective of his age.

 

World Cup

The World Cup is famous all around the world, and Japan is no exception. Japan qualified to the upcoming Qatar World Cup and therefore it is getting quite some attention from the local football enthusiasts. But how do Japanese players think about betting on their home country in the upcoming World Cup?

 

Japan has quite a tough group stage as they face the 2010 World Cup Champions, Spain and Germany who won the World Cup for four consecutive times. In the same Group as Japan there is also Costa Rica who usually do well in group stages. It’s fair to say that odds do not look good for Japan to pass group stage, however if they do, players can win quite some money as odds will be high!

Sources: ranker.com / jleague.co